Top 10 Disturbing Origins of Movie Characters

“The Usual Suspects” (1995)

The mild-mannered mastermind behind the twisting sequence of events that led to a deadly shootout and fire was hiding in plain sight. Then, in a flash, he was gone. The real murderer who inspired the fictional Keyser Söze was just as elusive. Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie based Söze on John List. In 1971, List murdered his wife, mother, and three children in cold blood, then disappeared without a trace. For two decades, List evaded capture. It wasn’t until 1989, when “America’s Most Wanted” aired a clay bust of his likeness, that he was caught. He had remarried, and even after his arrest, contended that he was not John List. Unlike his fictional counterpart, List was caught and convicted of his crimes.

“Natural Born Killers” (1994)

Murderous lovers on the run wasn’t new when Oliver Stone’s trippy and grotesque road trip thriller hit theater screens in 1994. Mickey and Mallory Knox drew comparisons to both the real and fictional Bonnie and Clyde. But these two were in a deranged class of their own. Their cross-country killing spree was inspired by Charles Starkweather and his accomplice, Caril Ann Fugate. This true story of a young man, and his young accomplice and girlfriend, became a national media sensation in the late 1950s. The pair also inspired Terence Malick’s 1973 indie epic, “Badlands.”

“Halloween” (1978)

What this escaped killer lacks in humanity, he more than makes up for in sheer evil. But when the movie first introduces him, he’s only a boy. Carpenter’s inspiration for the character, and the shocking revelation of his age when he commits his first murder, was based on a very real experience Carpenter had. During a class trip to a psychiatric institution, he saw a young boy with a vacant and unsettling look that haunted him for years afterward. Actor Donald Pleasence’s dialogue about the look of evil in Michael Myers’ eyes recalls that same patient.

“Scream” (1996)

While the villain’s identity changes with each sequel, their crimes were inspired by a very real serial killer. Although by no means an adaptation of the true story, screenwriter Kevin Williamson was inspired to write “Scream” after seeing news reports on the Gainesville Ripper. Daniel Rolling, a Florida man who slaughtered eight people, was even scarier and more depraved than his on-screen counterpart. He was tried and convicted in 1994, two years before “Scream” came out. The origins of Ghostface’s mask are a bit less sinister. The costume designers took its twisted expression from “The Scream,” a work by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)

Horror master Wes Craven cited three major inspirations for the sweater-clad, fedora-wearing, razor-gloved demon of suburban teenagers’ nightmares. The first was a childhood rival by the name of Fred Krueger. The second was a run-in with a creepy old man who startled him when he was home alone as a child. But the third inspiration was the real-life story of Hmong refugees who had been placed in internment camps who had begun dying in their sleep. One story in particular, about a boy who refused to fall asleep because he believed he was being pursued by a monster in his dreams, haunted Craven. The boy ended up dying in the middle of one of those nightmares.

“Misery” (1990)

It’s terrifying to think someone tasked with treating patients could be a cold-blooded killer. On “Misery’s” commentary track, director Rob Reiner said the sadistic nurse played by Kathy Bates was based somewhat loosely on a nurse named Genene Jones. During her tenure as a nurse in San Antonio, Texas, Jones lethally injected more than 40 youths in her care. Annie Wilkes was accused of a similar crime in “Misery.” However, author Stephen King’s actual inspiration is disturbing in a different, more personal way. “Misery” was the novel he wrote in response to his attempts to go sober. Annie Wilkes was a stand-in for his own dependency, in all its oppressive and destructive power.

“Dracula” (1931)

Irish novelist Bram Stoker didn’t invent the vampire, but his undead Transylvanian count invented and popularized many of the tropes that would forever be associated with the creature. The 1931 Universal horror classic would do the same for movie vampires. Mostly inspired by Eastern European folklore, scholars and fans have drawn numerous comparisons between Dracula and Vlad the Impaler. Vlad, whose family name was Dracul, was a Wallachian prince and warlord who became famous for his habit of impaling his enemies. Vlad the Impaler’s cruelty made him a feared ruler and a legendary example of medieval barbarism. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 adaptation of the novel brings the count’s historical origins to life.

“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)

Although the cannibal psychiatrist has been terrorizing movie audiences since “Manhunter,” his most famous appearance is in “The Silence of the Lambs.” Like the film’s other villain, Buffalo Bill, who was inspired by three different serial killers, Lecter also had multiple inspirations. Original novelist Thomas Harris based the psychiatrist on a prison doctor he met in Mexico. The doctor, whom the author found to be incredibly elegant and poised, was also a notorious murderer. Harris later identified him as the Wolfman of Nuevo León, the moniker given to Alfredo Ballí Treviño. This dichotomy of kindness and deviance inspired him in writing Hannibal Lecter.

“Taxi Driver” (1976)

Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and screenwriter Paul Schrader created the ultimate figure of post-Vietnam paranoia in the New York cab driver, Travis Bickle. We watch as Travis devolves into a mohawk-wearing, gun-strapped, self-styled vigilante whose sanity is holding on by a thread. and plotting to shoot a presidential candidate. Bickle’s rambling diaries, fixation on political assassination, and desire to become mythologized in history for his crimes were inspired by Arthur Bremer. Bremer was convicted and sentenced for the 1972 attempted assassination of Governor George Wallace, a Democratic challenger to President Richard Nixon in the upcoming election.

“Psycho” (1960)

In 1957, the citizens of Plainfield, Wisconsin were rocked by a gruesome discovery. Mild-mannered farmer Ed Gein’s property was the site of a series of grisly and violent crimes. Gein’s obsession with his mother became the dominant motivation behind Norman Bates’ homicidal tendencies. The sensitive motel proprietor’s fugue state and fondness for donning his mother’s clothes after her death were also lifted from the case. Although relatively tame compared to the real thing, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” was almost too much for audiences to take in 1960. The more salacious components of Gein’s crimes wouldn’t be depicted until “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “The Silence of the Lambs.” But Norman Bates was the first major character he inspired.